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1965 Dutch Grand Prix
|poletime = 1:30.7 |fastestlap = 1:30.6 |fastestlapdriver = Jim Clark |fastestlapnation = GBR |fastestlapteam = |fastestlapnumber = 5 |winner = Jim Clark |winnernation = GBR |winnerteam = |second = Jackie Stewart |secondnation = GBR |secondteam = |third = Dan Gurney |thirdnation = USA |thirdteam = }} The 1965 Dutch Grand Prix was the sixth round of the 1965 FIA Formula One World Championship, officially held as the XIV Grote Prijs van Nederland at Circuit Park Zandvoort on the 18th of July.'GRAND PRIX RESULTS: DUTCH GP, 1965', grandprix.com, (Inside F1 Inc., 2016), http://www.grandprix.com/gpe/rr137.html, (Accessed 24/07/2016) Held just a week after the British Grand Prix, a rather reduced field would be dominated by factory backed efforts in a race which saw threaten the establishment. Qualifying saw the lead Honda driver Richie Ginther threaten to take pole position, the Californian matching the times of Jim Clark and John Surtees. Unfortunately for the Japanese manufacturer, Ginther set his time after Clark meaning the Scot would start ahead, while a good lap by Graham Hill gave the Englishman pole by three tenths of a second to deny Clark. The three wide front row saw Ginther make another excellent start from third to snatch the lead of the race, with pole sitter Hill having to fend off Clark into Tarzan for second. Their battle allowed Ginther to escape into a small lead over the opening laps, until Hill and Clark managed to ease by on laps three and four respectively. Clark pushed on after taking Ginther, and a couple of false starts saw the Scot eventually elbow Hill out of the way to take the lead. The Scot was not be caught, although for Hill and Ginther, the rest of the race became a battle with those behind, with Ginther ultimately falling to sixth. Jackie Stewart and Dan Gurney also managed to get past Hill to complete the podium, while Denny Hulme split the lead from the Honda by taking fifth. Background Moved from its usual May/June date, the Dutch Grand Prix of 1965 saw Zandvoort return to host the sixth round of the 1965 season, using the familiar playground among the sand dunes. A 60,000 strong crowd was expected with the race staged during the summer holiday season, although the draw back was that almost all of the nearby hotels were fully booked before the teams arrived. Logistics aside, the K.N.A.C. who organised the race invited sixteen drivers to the circuit, with the entry list opened up to cover for absentees just before the weekend. Leading the charge into the dunes would be Team Lotus, fresh from Jim Clark's determined display at Silverstone. They had three cars available for Clark and team mate Mike Spence, with Clark getting the option of using the new Climax engine. With just one week between the Britsh and Dutch Grand Prix, the Lotus crew had no time to impliment minor updates, although with many factory teams focusing on the new 3.0 litre formula set to debut in , the likelihood of future updates was slim. were also in the Netherlands with three chassis, although they only had two engines available after Dan Gurney destroyed their updated Climax. Team owner Jack Brabham withdrew himself from the entry list to allow impressive youngster Denny Hulme to partner Gurney. also had two drivers with three chassis, with Bruce McLaren and Jochen Rindt going to battle for them once again. Into the chassis and engine manufacturer field, and had their usual compliment of two 1965 cars for Graham Hill and Jackie Stewart to use, with the development car in reserve. allocated the F12 to John Surtees once again, meaning Lorenzo Bandini had the pick of the two V8 chassis. Finally there was , whom had two cars entered up until the start of the weekend as Ronnie Bucknum withdrew, meaning Richie Ginther would battle for the Land of the Rising Sun alone once again. Two privateer efforts were invited on the original entry list, headlined by the successful RRC Walker Racing Team and their driver pair of Jo Bonnier and Jo Siffert. John Willment Automobiles were also allowed to enter two cars, with Chris Amon joining Frank Gardner, although Amon was withdrawn before the weekend. With Amon and Bucknum out, Reg Parnell Racing were invited just before the weekend, bringing two cars for Richard Attwood and Innes Ireland, while Bob Anderson was allowed to join the field after arriving at the circuit with the latter entries. Another victory for Clark meant he left Silverstone just two race wins away from scoring maximum points, while his Championship lead grew to thirteen points. Hill was his closest challenger, but the size of the gap meant he was more likely to be in a scrap with at least two other drivers to be runner up. Young Scot Stewart had held onto third, four points off of team mate Hill, with Surtees a further two points back. would head into the second half of the season with a five point advantage in the Intercontinental Cup for Manufacturers, all thanks to the efforts of Clark. sat in second, and unlike their drivers, looked set to battle with the Norfolk based squad for the title. were eleven points off in third, and with a twelve point gap back to , they looked set to stay there for the rest of the season. Entry list The full entry list for the is outlined below: Practice Overview Qualifying Despite it being well into summer across Western Europe, the temperatures for the first session on Friday morning were well below what was to be expected. A second practice/qualifying session was scheduled for Saturday to be held in warmed conditions, although it was delayed after a crash in one of the support races. The Grand Prix cars would therefore have to battle both cool temperatures and fluids to try and best Dan Gurney's time from 1964, a 1:31.2 which was good enough for pole. Report A small thirty minute delay meant the track was slightly warmer than expected when Friday practice finally started, the organisers deciding to re-lay some tarmac near the pit exit. First out in the delayed session was Richie Ginther, who had covered a lot of ground at Zandvoort as both he and absent team mate Ronnie Bucknum developed the car. The de facto base at Zandvoort had been an important factor in the Japanese firm's recent improvements, with Ginther the first man to match Gurney's '64 record in the early stages. Yet, Friday was not to go all Honda's way, with Jim Clark getting on track a few minutes later, before dancing the Lotus round the dunes to set a 1:31.0. The Scot's time was rather exceptional, with Clark himself failing to better it, while Ginther continued to record 1:31.2s. Graham Hill was off the pace, suffering from the cool conditions, which meant he could not beat young team mate Jackie Stewart, in a session which was briefly halted by Innes Ireland after he spun at Hunze Rug and disappeared over a dune. The second session on Friday proved a washout, with the only team to do any serious running to leave Hill with the fastest afternoon time of 1:52.0. That left Saturday morning as the only session left for times to improve, but it was a slow start after more than an hour delay after a chaotic Formula Vee race which had marshals scattering out the way of race cars. When the Grand Prix cars finally got on circuit, the improved conditions were not enough to see the pace ramp up until late in the session. With most of the field orbiting slower than they had on Friday, it took until the last hour before someone finally challenged Clark's pole time. That man was Hill, who finally had enough confidence in the car to push, becoming the only man to breech the 1:31.0 barrier, while Ginther and Surtees managed to match the Scot's Friday time. As for Clark, his day was ruined when the updated Climax engine developed an oil leak, and despite his mechanics getting the car back up and running, it was never running strong enough for the Scot to hunt down a quicker time. Qualifying Results The full qualifying results for the are outlined below: Grid Race A warm and sunny day in the dunes dawned on Sunday for the Grand Prix, with the 60,000 strong crowd getting warmed up themselves by a couple of touring car races.M.J.T., 'Dutch Grand Prix: Another Clark Benefit', motorsportmagazine.com, (Motor Sport Magazine, 01/08/1965), http://www.motorsportmagazine.com/archive/article/august-1965/13/dutch-grand-prix, (Accessed 24/07/2016) After the cars were assembled on the dummy grid there was a brief flurry of activity from the pits, caused by Colin Chapman as he sprinted away from a group of policemen, leading to his arrest after the race. Otherwise, the F1 circus was set to blast into action, with the field told to crawl onto the grid proper thirty seconds before the start. Report When the flag dropped all eyes, and quite a few ears, were drawn to the screaming of Richie Ginther, as the V12 engine burst into life and launched the Californian straight into the lead. A cloud of tyre smoke produced by Graham Hill and Jim Clark saw those two battle for second into Tarzan, and it was the Englishman who held the advantage into the low speed hairpin by holding the inside line. The Honda danced out of the corner ahead of the pair of them before leading the field out into the dunes, with Dan Gurney slotting neatly into fourth having taken John Surtees off the line. Incredibly, the Honda was still on top as the cars reappeared on the pit straight to complete lap one, with Hill and Clark skating around in his wake. Gurney was a short distance back already, scrapping with Jackie Stewart after he pushed Surtees out around the dunes, with the Englishman back behind Mike Spence. Those two led a group containing the rest of the runners which ran line astern for the opening stages, as the crowds waited for the return of the cars from their second trip through the dunes. Back past the pits and it was still Ginther slithering onto the third lap in the lead, although as the leading trio dived onto the brakes for Tarzan, Hill managed to squeeze up the inside for the lead. Clark was too far back to take advantage, and it took the Scot two more laps to get past, pulling an identical move to his English rival before setting off after the BRM. With that, Ginther began to drift back towards Gurney and Stewart, who had fallen a short way back amid the relentless pace, while Hill and Clark sized each other up for what was set to be another titanic scrap. begins his escape to victory having just taken Graham Hill for the lead.]] Unfortunately, the Lotus driver had other ideas, and a good run down the start/finish straight to start lap six saw Clark dart to the inside through Tarzan to take the lead. As the two disappeared into the dunes Hill was right with him, but by the time they came back into the camera zone, a gap had appeared with Clark still ahead. As the cameras were occupied with the lead battle, Ginther slipped down the order, relegated to fifth by Gurney and Stewart in the space of four laps. An interesting scrap was developing for the final point in sixth, as Denny Hulme joined Spence and Surtees in breaking away from the large pack for a private truel. As Ginther was taken by Stewart, Spence had Surtees come charging past into Tarzan, with Hulme threatening for another lap before also slipping through. Hulme was then left to attack Surtees as Spence slipped a short distance back, just as Jochen Rindt took team mate Bruce McLaren for ninth. Surtees was soon to relent to the Hulme charge, although he was simply displaying part of a general push by the factory cars, as Gurney drew in Hill and Clark. The Scot's lead was slowly climbing every lap as Gurney loomed ever closer, although the New Yorker was also dragging Stewart into the fight for the lead. The oncoming Scot prompted Gurney to take immediate action, a great move around the outside of the banked Tarzan corner putting past Hill and into second. Ginther's day, meanwhile, was getting worse, with the V12 Honda going through a pirouette at Hugenholtzbocht just moments after Hulme charged past for fifth through Tarzan. He therefore lost sixth to Surtees as the Englishman sprinted after Hulme who now looked a serious challenger for the win, while Ginther had to battle with Spence. Elsewhere, Jo Siffert had to call time on a promising run in the RRC Walker Racing Team , joining team mate Jo Bonnier int he puts to have a misfire partially cured. Suddenly, the action was back at the front of the field, as Stewart claimed Hill and Gurney's podium spots with relative ease to chase down Clark, who by this stage was six seconds up the road. He also began to nibble into the Champion-elect's lead for a few laps, until Team Lotus told Clark to let lose with the gap ballooning out to ten seconds in the space of a couple of laps. As this was going on, the ballet moves at the Hugenholtzbocht continued through the efforts of Spence and Innes Ireland, the former losing out to Rindt, McLaren and Lorenzo Bandini. The second half of the race became a rather dull affair, with Clark settling for an eight second gap back to Stewart, who himself was able to inch out a few tenths of a second over Gurney. Hill was slipping back with a problem, a broken rev counter meaning he was having to guess when it was the best engine speed to change gear, although Hulme's pace began to fade. Ginther had had another spin just after half distance, but this seemed to wake the Californian, or his V12 car, to wake up, as he began to reel in Surtees with renewed vigor. Ferrari soon began to come under pressure on both fronts, as Surtees saw the V12 Honda loom ever closer in the closing stages, while Bandini lost out to Spence. For Surtees, the pressure told, and after a few false starts Ginther finally managed to exact some revenge with a picture perfect move down the inside of Tarzan to take sixth back. Bandini, meanwhile saw Spence's move as a sign, with the Italian sparking back into life to retake eighth place. There was some late race drama among the leaders too, with Clark having to tame an impressive slide through Tarzan when lapping Frank Gardner a few laps from the end. Yet, this was minor compared to the sufferings of Hulme, who had to stop with a poor sounding engine. A quick diagnosis cost him time, and revealed a cracked exhaust, with the New Zealander told to hang on for the rest of the race with Ginther and Surtees closing in. celebrates a potentially decisive fifth victory of the season.]]Despite the dramas, Clark was able to cross the line to complete the 80th and final lap after two hours of racing to earn a fifth win in five starts. Stewart collected second, still eight seconds back but otherwise happy after a strong performance, while Gurney was an undisputed third. Hill drove rather well to take fourth, while Hulme nursed his hobbled car onto the last lap losing hand over fist to Ginther and Surtees, but they would just fall short of the New Zealander on the finishing line. Bandini's race collapsed when his gearbox jammed on the penultimate lap, meaning he lost out to Spence while Ireland completed the top ten. Results The full results for the are outlined below: Milestones *Eighteenth victory for Jim Clark. *Clark recorded his twentieth fastest lap. * earned their 39th victory as an engine manufacturer, meaning they were level with at the top of the all time winners list. Standings A fifth victory in five starts meant that Clark had won half the season's races, so it was only a matter of time before the Scot was crowned for a second time. Only Graham Hill could deny him, but the Englishman would have to win the remaining four races to make it a dead heat on wins, with the best remaining finishes then deciding the title. The rest were out, unable to get to five or six wins, with Jackie Stewart just a point off of Hill in third, with John Surtees and Bruce McLaren completing the top five. were also set to win the Intercontinental Cup for Manufacturers, with an eight point gap back to with dropped scores coming into effect from Germany onwards. were a distant third, seventeen points off of second placed BRM, before a nine point cushion over . were fourth thanks to McLaren, while were still behind as they continued to develop their cars. References Images and Videos: *Koch, Eric / Anefo, 'File:Clark and G. Hill at 1965 Dutch Grand Prix.jpg', commons.wikimedia.org, (WikiMedia Commons, 18/07/1965), https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Clark_and_G._Hill_at_1965_Dutch_Grand_Prix.jpg, (Accessed 24/07/2016) *—, 'File:Start of 1965 Dutch Grand Prix.jpg', commons.wikimedia.org, (WikiMedia Commons, 18/07/1965), https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Start_of_1965_Dutch_Grand_Prix.jpg, (Accessed 24/07/2016) *—, 'File:Clark celebrating at 1965 Dutch Grand Prix.jpg', commons.wikimedia.org, (WikiMedia Commons, 18/07/1965), https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Clark_celebrating_at_1965_Dutch_Grand_Prix.jpg, (Accessed 24/07/2016) References: Category:Grand Prix articles Category:1965 Grands Prix Category:Dutch Grand Prix